Collaborate, innovate, cultivate, repeat
Fargo-based Grand Farm initiative leverages local, global partners to electrify the future of agriculture Written by: Kaylee Cusack, Communications Specialist, Minnkota Power Cooperative
Dr. William Aderholdt stood at the edge of cropland near Horace, N.D., holding the fruit of many months of field work. It wasn’t a potato or sugar beet – the typical yields of the region – but rather a bright yellow sensor stamped with a Soiltech logo.
and resources they found that will keep them there. The company has begun working directly with American Crystal Sugar and hopes to open an office in Fargo – all from an initial partnership with Aderholdt and his team at Grand Farm.
The pint-sized technology was codeveloped with farmers in Idaho and tested in the heart of the Red River Valley. The unit is planted into the ground at the beginning of the growing season and collects standard data like soil temperature and moisture. However, this device sticks with the crop throughout the supply chain, with an impact sensor that determines inefficiencies in transport and where bruising of potatoes or beets may occur. It remains through the end of the line, giving producers insight into the location and conditions of storage.
“This is the sort of win that we think about when we have this platform people can build on,” said Aderholdt, who directs Grand Farm’s Program Management Office. “To those businesses, this is the best place to be.”
Soiltech Wireless developers were drawn to North Dakota as a product test area because of the market prospects, but it was the connections
These kinds of ag technology innovations are the harvest reaped by the Grand Farm ecosystem of growers, researchers, developers and entrepreneurs. Grand Farm is a nonprofit initiative powered by the Emerging Prairie entrepreneurial hub in Fargo. Its mission is to help agriculture startups come together to build the farm of the future, creating industry leadership in ag autonomy, data visualization, soil and crop health, public policy and more.
4 Highline Notes | October 2021
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On July 22, Grand Farm organizers invited community and industry leaders, tech investors, policymakers and the general public to its Innovation Site just south of Fargo, N.D. More than 70 attendees turned out for the North Dakota Innovation Acceleration Day event, one of dozens of gatherings and conferences hosted by the program each year. The agenda showcased the potential of Grand Farm, moving from tech demonstrations and test plot tours to startup funding and investment opportunities. “At Grand Farm, we really believe in innovation through collaboration,” Grand Farms Ecosystems Director Andrew Jason told the crowd, kicking off the day with a backdrop of sunflowers and soybeans. “We aim to be the facilitator that brings people together to solve the big problems in agriculture. And I think today is a prime example of the power of our partners.”
